Mexico fishing

Headed to Riviera Maya for a week. Any paticular guides or charter suggestions would be apprecieated. Anyone just fish early in the morning off of the beach ?

Fished the lagoons 4 or 5 years ago in Cancun. Caught several barracuda and lost a tarpon. I think the business was called—Cancuntarponfishing. It was right in the middle of the Hotel Zone of Cancun. I would do it again if I went to the area.

We went deep sea fishing with Captain Rick’s–guess it was almost 10 years ago now, but I would not recommend them.

My mom and I hauled in a few mahi-mahi last month with Chichi charters out of Cozumel. It was a blast. We only did 4 hours, which was plenty for us because the sea sickness started getting to both of us after just an hour or two. It got to be a grind to stick it out the whole 4 hours. Id recommend them to you because ill be booking with them again next time!

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Bring your own gear…. was just down in Mexico with my pike spinning rod and some plastics. This one was on a 360 GT search bait. 20# braid and a 30# floro leader. Borrowed a kayak from the resort.

Always fun to get on a charter but even better with your own stuff. I’d go inshore this time of year. Big gamefish don’t start moving into fishable waters until may or June. Always exceptions but that’s been my experience.

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@mdmoen is that a species of wrasse? Looks like it could be related to a Hogfish. Or a snapper.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:

We went deep sea fishing with Captain Rick’s–guess it was almost 10 years ago now, but I would not recommend them.

Same for me in the same timeframe RE: Capt Rick’s. I’d also bring my own MH spinning gear like Matt said, you can catch lots of interesting fish around the reefs and harbors near your resort. Good luck with what you decide.

It’s a Barred Pargo which I believe is a species of snapper. Sure was fun to catch off of a kayak with spinning gear.

If you go with a charter service of any kind read the reviews. They can tell you if they are worth booking or not. They are expensive so make sure you get your money’s worth. Also know that you run the risk of not catching anything if you go deep sea fishing. It’s just part of the game. However you can have a blast if the crew and captain are fun and know what they are doing. You can also do inshore fishing for smaller snapper and other species which will be cheaper and you will catch more fish.

Caught this Mahi two years ago in Puerto Vallarta. ESPN sponsored a big tournament the weekend before we were there and they told us this fish and the fish my wife caught would’ve won the tournament! Ha!

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Anybody have an idea when shore fishing if you have to buy a licences ? I don’t think I will cough up the money for a charter.

Thanks – AS

No license needed in Mexico.

Ask about the local panga operators. It’s usually really cheap to get out on the pangas because it’s inshore. Probably less than $200 but you gotta have cash.

Find a marina and ask around and you’ll find a deal on a boat if you have time.

If your going Mexico. On gulf side. Skip fishing this time of year IMHO

If you do wanna fish. Go with one of the beach guys. Don’t book online you’ll pay to much. Find a beach guy tell them you wanna fish. And you wanna catch fish. You’ll be in a smaller boat but. They will run n gun if needed to put you on fish. And you will save a bunch. Also. If fishing sux. You can say take me in. Your not on a 4 hour or 6 hour deal.

I found a place that does jigging and I thought that would be more fun to do it all yourself vs trolling. I was very wrong, it is super hard. We were in 400ft of water with 8oz jigs and you’d constantly rip it up, reel the slack, and rip it again. Do that for about 200 ft up then drop it down again and repeat. The guides had a good rhythm and did it for hours. I just ended up with a sore back and bruised upper arm

Reef W wrote:

I found a place that does jigging and I thought that would be more fun to do it all yourself vs trolling. I was very wrong, it is super hard. We were in 400ft of water with 8oz jigs and you’d constantly rip it up, reel the slack, and rip it again. Do that for about 200 ft up then drop it down again and repeat. The guides had a good rhythm and did it for hours. I just ended up with a sore back and bruised upper arm

I use jigs to take a break from throwing 5 ounce poppers all day. Try out flat fall jigs and slow pitch jigs. Much less work and for most species more productive.

thegun wrote:

If you do wanna fish. Go with one of the beach guys. Don’t book online you’ll pay to much. Find a beach guy tell them you wanna fish. And you wanna catch fish. You’ll be in a smaller boat but. They will run n gun if needed to put you on fish. And you will save a bunch. Also. If fishing sux. You can say take me in. Your not on a 4 hour or 6 hour deal.

These are the panga guys I was referring to.

We used Capt Ricks 3 years ago… what a clusterf&(k…. never again. I like the beach guy idea.

I went with Captain Edy Pena in Playa Del Carmen. He was the man down there. He was reasonable and had an entourage of guys to help him. We caught fish jigging and slow trolling. I was the only guy on the boat. I caught Amber Jacks and a Black grouper(very rare I guess). It was a lot of fun.

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Then we had a fiesta after we got back. They cleaned and cooked the fish for everyone. My fish had the locals flocking in. It was very cool to see everyone help out. If you contributed you were welcome. Some brought beer. Some brought limes and chips. Another had the pan and oil. Others started the cooking fire, while some cleaned fish. A guy even showed up and started playing music. It was a really fun experience. One I will never forget.

They made the fish a number of ways. My favorite was the Ceviche. It was incredible!

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Joe Scegura wrote:

Then we had a fiesta after we got back. They cleaned and cooked the fish for everyone. My fish had the locals flocking in. It was very cool to see everyone help out. If you contributed you were welcome. Some brought beer. Some brought limes and chips. Another had the pan and oil. Others started the cooking fire, while some cleaned fish. A guy even showed up and started playing music. It was a really fun experience. One I will never forget.

That sounds like something wayyyy out of my comfort zone, but I’m sure it was quite the adventure to see. It goes to show how friendly and welcoming the locals are not just to the tourists, but to fellow locals also.